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THE ARMED SERVICES AND AUXILIARY SERVICES

Response to recruiting campaigns has been enthusiastic which has enabled the regiment to be highly selective and to maintain high standards of physical fitness.

The training commitment is one weekend and either two evenings or one Saturday afternoon each month, together with two one-week camps a year. Ten volunteers attended various territorial army courses at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, and the School of Infantry, Warminster, while another 10 were attached to the Royal Yeomanry for an overseas exercise.

In October 1981, the entire regiment was deployed on the border to relieve the regular battalions for one week. The volunteers were primarily committed to anti-illegal immi- grant operations but essential individual training was also provided to ensure a varied and balanced programme for the week. The usual co-operation of employers in releasing the volunteers from work again resulted in a high turnout.

Royal Hong Kong Auxiliary Air Force

The Royal Hong Kong Auxiliary Air Force provides a variety of flying services, including internal security, for the government. Based at Hong Kong International Airport, it operates seven aircraft: a twin-engined Cessna Titan, a twin-engined Britten-Norman Islander, two Scottish Aviation Bulldog trainers and three Aerospatiale Dauphin twin- engined helicopters. It has an establishment of 68 permanent staff and 116 volunteers.

The blend of permanent and volunteer staff and of fixed-wing and rotary aircraft, supported by a totally self-sufficient engineering squadron, has enabled the auxiliary air force to operate seven days a week and round the clock during an emergency.

The new Dauphin helicopters settled well into service. Working closely with the marine police, daily patrols were maintained to counter the arrival of illegal immigrants and to provide intelligence on the movement of vessels carrying Vietnamese refugees.

The helicopters also responded to more than 160 requests for emergency medical evacuations from outlying areas and from ships with injured personnel on board.

The increased capacity of the new machines also proved of great assistance in 'water bombing' fires in the rural and afforested areas. A number of civil engineering projects were successfully completed with the help of auxiliary air force helicopters carrying men and materials to inaccessible locations. They were also used to transport official visitors to

remote areas.

The Cessna Titan and Britten-Norman Islander assisted the Public Works Department with aerial surveys and photography for map making and development planning in the New Territories, as well as maintaining long-range off-shore surveillance patrols. The Bulldogs provided regular meteorological evaluation flights for the Royal Observatory in connection with the proposed new airport at Chep Lap Kok as well as ab initio pilot training for the Civil Aviation Department's student air traffic controllers.

Civil Aid Services

The Civil Aid Services is a disciplined and uniformed volunteer service founded in 1952 and trained to assist the regular emergency services in dealing with natural disasters and other emergencies. Its 3 000 officers and members are trained to handle typhoon emergencies, rescue from landslips and building collapses, mountain rescue, forest fire fighting, forestry patrolling, counter-oil pollution duties at sea, refugee feeding and camp management, crowd control duties and life saving.

The Civil Aid Services also plays an important role in helping to organise Chinese festivals, charity fund raising drives, government publicity campaigns and sports meetings.